PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVE ACHIEVES GOAL OF SPINE ROAD, WALKABLE, LIVABLE, VIBRANT DOWNTOWN

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Crocker Partners' CEO Tom Crocker, who launched downtown Boca Raton's redevelopment with Mizner Park in 1990, has presented plans for an ambitious private sector initiative to complete the City's downtown vision. The plans, unveiled at a meeting of the Community Redevelopment Agency, call for assembly and redevelopment of two city blocks and - at no cost to the city - completion of the long-desired pedestrian-oriented spine.

Redevelopment of the property, stretching north to south from N.E. 2nd Street to Palmetto Park Road and east to west from Mizner Boulevard to Federal Highway, will close the gap between Mizner Park and Royal Palm Plaza. Crocker Partners' masterplan places offices, shops, restaurants, residences and a hotel along the spine and gives greater prominence to the City's existing Sanborn Square park and to Old Town Hall, a historic landmark.

Crocker Partners will negotiate in the coming months with owners to assemble property sufficient to make the project economically viable. If this can be achieved, it will immediately proceed. If not, the company will turn its attention to other opportunities, Crocker said. Crocker Partners is currently developing the first major new Class A office buildings in downtown West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale and is active in the Atlanta market.

"Redeveloping this property under a cohesive masterplan is crucial to the downtown's long-term success," Crocker said. "Our vision is to take downtown Boca Raton to the next level in a way that benefits everyone in the City. Under

this plan, the spine is completed - with no outlay of City money or the need for bonds - and the entire downtown can finally achieve its full potential as a walkable, livable and vibrant destination."

The project, dubbed the Sanborn Square District, will strengthen the urban fabric of the city and bring the downtown alive, Crocker said. "The Sanborn Square plan is all about the connections that make a city great. It weaves together existing neighborhoods and downtown destinations, historic landmarks, the past and the future."

Crocker noted that the City most recently considered funding $30 million and using powers of eminent domain to achieve the spine. Recent changes by the Florida legislature, however, prohibit the City from using eminent domain in support of community redevelopment.

If the assembly is successful, Crocker Partners will ask the City to devote incremental tax revenues generated by this project to the spine, Sanborn Square park improvements and public parking, and for the City to authorize creation of a self-taxing Sanborn Square community development district.

Crocker Partners engaged the architectural firm of Elkus-Manfredi to create the preliminary plan. It calls for Sanborn Square park to be a focal point, complemented by a series of active plazas along the spine, dotted by fountains, sculpture and landscape features. Lining the spine will be retail shops and restaurants and cafes. On the east side, residences and a hotel will surround and screen an elevated parking deck. The west side will be developed with residences and offices.

In 1990, Crocker developed Mizner Park, a catalyst for the entire downtown's revitalization. A public-private partnership, Mizner Park was among the first project of its kind in South Florida and a national model of new urban development.